Rule of Rose
by heyytheremickey
Summary: An AU story about The Akatsuki, a band of pirates who sail the seven seas for booze, treasure, and beautiful women. Their newest plan is simple: kidnap the to-be-wed princess and use her as bait to gain access to the every empires' supply of sake and ryo. However, upon kidnapping her, the Akatsuki are in for more trouble than they bargained for. Suggestions for pairing?


**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the franchise **_**Naruto**_**. Enjoy!**

"Nana," a voice whispered. "It is time."

From below, muffled voices were barely audible over the orchestra of violins, flutes, percussion, and piano. The music filled the bedroom, the eerie sounds of the violin floating amongst stuffed rabbits, draperies, and roses which decorated my room in deep carmine shades. On the furthest wall from the door, where a stately woman stood erect and stoic, was a vanity, a bright white color similar to every other piece of furniture in my room. Around the mirror however, a vine of roses snaked and spilled teardrop petals unto the otherwise empty table and floor. It is presently that I sit just in front of this mirror, eyes glazed and dull, staring at my mother's frame.

She was a beautiful woman, with a warmth and charm unparalleled to even the most agreeable of women. Usually full of gaiety, everyone is always drawn to her wide grin and inviting arms. Now, however, as she stood with utmost indifference in her white and pink hoopskirt dress, she was a cold and no longer endearing presence. Our eyes were locked within the reflection of the mirror, and shared a silent compromise of agreement. I hesitated in sitting up to smooth out my ruffled white dress and unruly honey-colored hair, before turning my head and peering across the room at her. We stayed silent in these positions like a photograph, unmoving until two younger women arrived at either side of my mother.

"Kougou-sama!" one of the pink-haired girls squealed.

"Nanami no Kimi!" the other gasped, catching sight of me through the door. These were my mother's permanent maids, Airi and Yuri. Not much older than myself, the two twins and I were nearly inseparable when none of us were busy. However, the two, being twins, were nearly identical and as a child I had a hard time identifying who I was speaking to. After I presented this issue to them one afternoon, Airi began wearing a jasmine broach on the left breast of her white and red-trimmed maid outfit.

"Yes?" my mother's warm voice asked the two twins. Yuri fluttered into my room and bent down to my view, her bright green eyes piercing into me.

She whispered, "Little rose, it is time." Yuri touched my cheek with her gloved palm gently, and kissed my forehead with such delicacy, I wasn't fully sure her lips were truly there. Airi skipped after her other half, approaching me in the same manner and embracing me close to her. While my father would have abhorred this display of affection between maid and royalty, Yuri and Airi were my family, having been present since my inception.

"Time for your ball, Nanami!" Airi stated, grinning at me and grasping my hand firmly between her own. Yuri did the same, giving my hand a little squeeze to calm my barely evident nerves.

Today, I was expect to find a man – a prince, emperor, or lord – of whom I would later exchange vows and be shackled with for the entirety of my life. While most would find such a day, the eve of my eighteenth birthday, a magical and entrancing one, I had been dreading this day for weeks. Being still a young girl at heart, whose only interest was in books, music, and frequent adventures in the courtyard, settling down with a man was one of the last things on my mind. I was not ready to trade my life of studies and leisure for that of a true noblewoman, wife, and mother such as my own. However, I digress, for in royalty there is no choice, but duty. And this was my destiny.

Yuri and Airi lifted me to my feet, and the three of us walked hand and hand to my mother. Upon reaching her, they released their hands and curtsied, before scurrying around us and sending hopeful smiles in my direction. Being employees of the castle, especially on days like this, there was no time for lollygagging and tomfoolery. I raised my eyes to my mother, whose violet orbs were glassy and sclera were red. Her expression, though collected as it was, seemed to age in front of me. Without saying a word, she grasped my hand with a tenderness only a mother could possess and the two of us strode our way down the halls toward the courtyard.

Finally, as we arrived to the grand staircase, I whispered, "Okasan?"

"Yes, my dear Nana?" she addressed me in my childhood nickname, a name she often referred to me and which Yuri and Airi use when in private.

"I don't know if I'm ready," I replied hesitantly, unsure of her reaction. She paused for a moment, and we stood quietly atop the tall and grand spiral stairs. My bedroom was on the top floor of our abode, but even still I could hear the merrymaking of nobles from the courtyard and entryway, and the orchestra's beautiful yet eerie sounds. Though, I wasn't sure if it was entirely the noble's merrymaking or the press' excitement over the reunion of such high nobility in one place.

We listened to the sounds for a moment more, before my mother finally responded, "It isn't something you can prepare yourself for, darling, nor is it something you can be ready for. When I was your age, I was surely not ready. However, you must comply, for it is the duty of the women of nobility to continue the lineage of royal blood and to be the rational, calm, and supportive minds to the emperors and kings of the vast empire. It is not something I can give you advice on, nor is it something you can learn from a book. But it is your destiny, and you must learn to accept it. I raised you an agreeable daughter to find a son to continue his lineage and to inherit our own good fortunes. Please try to understand we're only doing what's in our best interest for you and the people of this kingdom." While this explanation was irksome, upon looking up at my mother I could see an emotion of sadness spread across her face, if only for a second, as if she too despaired in her words.

As we walked down the staircase together, now arm-in-arm, and reached the entry, we caught the attention of both the nobles and press with their pieces of paper handy to scribe the news.

"And here," one of my father's servants announced, "we welcome Kougou-sama and Nanami no Kimi!" There was a round of clapping as we waved and smiled at everyone, and upon reaching the floor my mother and I curtsied and continued out into the courtyard through equally as white and ornate halls. Before leaving out the back with her, I could see the line-up of horse-drawn carriages, and I gulped at the amount of people present.

Outside, the fountains and table were lit up with brilliant candles and the full moon cast a spotlight on the stone pathways winding around our yard. Though it was a little crowded with all the people and bushes, trees, and flowers, it held the same royal feel to it as the inside of the home. There were people dancing and eating and chatting amongst themselves, all seeming to have a good time. A few women I did not know were called to my mother's attention, and I was left to myself wandering around the busy yard.

Some people said hello to me as I passed, and I would send them a smile and greet them back. However, it wasn't until I pinpointed Yuri and Airi did I feel most secure.

"Oh, little rose!" Yuri gushed, smiling at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Nana," Airi scolded, though her smile gave away her true emotion. "You should go speak to some of the boys here."

"I don't really want to," I mumbled, pouting in her direction. "And anyway, you know some of them don't you? From visiting around with my mother? You can just describe them for me." They're faces lit up, recalling these people from their memory. As my mother's most trust-worthy servants, they were granted sanction to accompany her travels to the other areas of the kingdoms. Thus, they were probably better acquainted with these people than I was.

Airi and Yuri scoped the yard, before Airi pointed to one blonde-haired boy. She proclaimed, "That is Naruto no Kimi, and he rules in the Konoha region of the empire. He's a very sweet boy, mind you, however he is also quite rambunctious and obnoxious– excuse my manners, Nana!" I giggled as her face flushed red at her mistake. However, Yuri continued for her.

"He is a nice boy though," Yuri explained. "I quite enjoyed his presence and he seemed to be a passionate man as well, very amiable."

"And obnoxious," I giggled, making her flush as well as her twin. Peering around innocently, they both nodded and the three of us were in a fit of laughter almost immediately.

They continued to describe the other recognizable people at the ball. There was Sasuke, a lord also ruling in the Konoha region. He was described as a calm man who enjoyed his studies, but also of a cold and inapproachable manner. Then, there was Gaara, a ruler of the region of Suna, who shared a similar nature to Sasuke, though even more disagreeable of a nature. There was Kankuro – Gaara's older brother – and Neji of Konoha, Haku of Kiri, Kabuto of Oto; at some point, I lost count of the people they described. While some seemed to have many redeeming qualities, most of them – especially Kabuto – were a mixture of frightening, unapproachable, or just plain unhappy-looking. It was one thing for me to not be overly excited about spending the eve of my birthday looking for a husband; it was another thing if most of them were unhappy themselves. Noticing my discontented expression, Airi was about to comment when a loud crash was heard from inside. Instantly, the music stopped and everyone looked toward the open glass door. For a moment, everything was silent until the announcer servant burst outside, blood streaming down his face from lesions on her cheeks and forehead.

"P-Pirates!" he shrieked, and suddenly everyone was in a panic. Food, cloth, silverware, and glasses were flung into the air as everyone scattered in a frenzy of immense fear. With everyone suddenly pushing and shoving around, I found myself separated from Airi and Yuri. No matter how loud I screamed their names, I could not locate them, nor hear their response. However, I did manage to catch someone's attention.

"Nanami no Kimi!"

I looked for the speaker and caught sight of a man with his hand held out. Instinctively after noticing the familiar garb of my family's servants, I grasped the man's hand and allowed him to pull me opposite of the crowd and into more open air.

"Come on Princess!" he shouted. "There are pirates around, you know! We have to keep moving so they cannot harm you!" Nodding, I followed the man and I cringed inwardly over the sliminess of his palm. He must have been sweating a good deal, though the summer night was surprisingly cool.

The two of us ran on through the trees, dodging thorny bushes and leaping over rocks. I had an especially hard time with this in my heeled shoes and billowing long dress, however I managed with only a few tears in the previously white fabric. Finally, we reached a clearing in the wood which Airi, Yuri, and I often visited, a place with a multitude of flowers. The servant stopped and I fell to the soft earth, barely able to catch my breath. The man knelt beside me, and sent me a sympathetic look.

"You alright?" he asked. "Hope I didn't completely run you out of energy…little rose, un?" I froze at the nickname and looked curiously into the man's blue-grey eyes.

"How did you…?" I began, looking confused at his growing smile. "Wait…"

Before I could say anything, I caught sight the palms of his hands. There were _tongues_…no wait, his hands had mouths, and they too grinned at me in a sinister, yet pitying manner. Just as I was about to screech, he slapped one of his mouthed-hands against my mouth. Which, honestly, just made me want to screech that much louder until the hand's mouth attempted to slip his tongue in. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I squirmed helplessly under than man's grasp as he lifted me with his other arm. I could feel the mouth on his hand grinning.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding the least bit sorry as he pushed us forward back through the woods. "He has a mind of his own, un."

Tears continued streaming down my face as we continued through the woods. After awhile of silence, sounds could be heard and we were met with a new person. Neither of them spoke, and then the events would repeat. By the time we reached the opening in the woods, there were seven more people accompanying us. At this point, some of them were talking amongst themselves; however, I could not interpret what they were saying. When we were out of the woods, my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. There was a stretch of sand before us, and then further out into the ocean a ship had docked. Upon seeing the ship, some of the men howled and cheering and ran toward it at full speed. It was then I noticed how most of them were accompanied by large sacs of who-knows-what.

"Hey Sasori," the man holding me back called to a red haired person a few paced away. "Can you help me out with the chick, un? I don't think this wench will be as easy to hull up there as the other loot."

_Other loot_. So that's what I was now, pirate's loot. Upon this realization, a sob built up inside of me and the tear poured out harder than before. The blonde man took notice of this and moved his grinning, disgusting hand away from my face. We were too far away from my home for anyone to here my cries.

"Hey, hey!" the blonde commented. "Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I screamed, flailing around in his arm. "I'm not some loot you can just steal! Let me go! I wanna go home!"

As I screamed, the blonde yelled to the red haired man – Sasori? – for help. He only continued on his way however, saying, "It looks like you have it well under control."

"Does this look under control?" he shouted, having changed to wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me as an angered father lifts his unruly, sobbing child.

"I'll help Deidara-senpai!" a new, higher pitched voice called and a man in an orange mask leapt over toward us. Grabbing me under his arm, he scurried off with me and a similar sac which the others had been carrying. Within seconds, I was being tossed onto a ship and surrounded by eight men.

A door behind them swung open and the men parted to reveal and woman and a man exiting what I expected were the Captain's Quarters. Still sobbing, I tried to muffle myself to avoid making this anticipated captain angry. As infuriated and upset as I was, I was frightened beyond comprehension.

The man – the captain – looked down at me in a calm manner, similar to which my mother showed me earlier than even. His pasty face showed neither happiness nor displeasure by my arrival on his ship. With the blue-haired woman by his side, the two strolled toward me until he was directly in front of my shaking, teary countenance.

"Child," he stated in a low, collected voice. "Do not fear, for we do not wish to hurt you. You are here strictly for business purposes, and your stay shall not be but for a short while. Do as you are told, and this shall all be over soon, and you will be returned to your family."

The duty of a princess, they said, was destined: born with royal blood, you shall be taught the ways of a cultured and agreeable woman until that of your eighteenth birthday when you are received by a lord or emperor as his wife and mother of his children. That is a noblewoman's destiny. So how was it that I was instead surrounded by pirates?

I didn't know it then, but destiny had much different plans for me.


End file.
